Today's Tip
A French woman's perfume is not an accessory. It is part of her identity. It does not change seasonally. She finds one scent, usually in her twenties, and wears it for decades. The fragrance becomes associated with her so completely that it is inseparable from the memory of her.
Try This
Spend 30 minutes in a perfume shop this month without buying anything. Smell five fragrances, one at a time, on your wrist. Wait 20 minutes before judging any of them — the top notes are misleading. What you smell after 20 minutes is who you actually are in that perfume. The French call this the "fond" — the base. That is what matters.
French perfumery divides fragrance families into five categories: floral, oriental, woody, fresh, and chypre. The last category — chypre, from the French word for Cyprus — is built on oakmoss, labdanum, and bergamot. It is the most distinctly French fragrance family and the most sophisticated. Chanel No. 5 is an aldehyic floral. Shalimar is an oriental. But the great chypre fragrances — Mitsouko, Miss Dior original — are what French perfumers consider the apex of their craft. They are also the most polarizing. That is considered a feature.
One French lifestyle tip, every morning at 7am. Free — always.